Tom Brady Congratulates Eli Manning On Retirement ... Sort Of
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady has played in nine Super Bowls. He's won six of them. He's a pretty successful guy.
Nevertheless, someone with Brady's level of competitiveness never really gets over a loss. And that much was clear when Brady sent a mostly nice retirement message to Eli Manning on Twitter.
Brady tweeted on Friday morning that Eli had a great career, but that he wishes it was slightly less great.
"Congratulations on your retirement, and a great career Eli!" Brady wrote. "Not going to lie though, I wish you hadn't won any Super Bowls."
Congratulations on your retirement, and a great career Eli! Not going to lie though, I wish you hadn't won any Super Bowls.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 24, 2020
Surely, all of New England can get behind that sentiment.
During his retirement press conference, Manning was asked about the tweet. He said that he understands Brady's sense of humor ... and that there's plenty of truth behind the tweet.
Manning, of course, defeated the Patriots twice in Super Bowls. The first came at the end of the historic 2007 season, when the Patriots entered the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record, looking to become the first team to ever go 19-0. Alas, a helmet catch from David Tyree and a too-easy touchdown pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress ended that dream.
The second one came four years later, when the Patriots met the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. Manning threw for 296 yards and a touchdown, earning his second Super Bowl MVP as the Giants won 21-17.
Since then, Brady's gone on to find quite a bit of success, winning three more Super Bowls and throwing for over 500 yards in the lone Super Bowl he's lost since. Nevertheless, the Super Bowl losses to Eli and the Giants -- particularly the pain of Super Bowl XLII -- likely won't ever fade.